Former New Orleans Saints QB will parade down Bourbon Street in a dress made by his daughter

Cammy Lynn Hebert shows off dress she made for dad Bobby (below), ex-Saints QB who will be toast of New Orleans tomorrow when he’ll wear it in parade celebrating team’s first Super Bowl. (Davies for News)

Hebert is picking up the promise made by the late New Orleans sportscaster Buddy Diliberto to parade down Bourbon Street in a dress should the Saints reach the Super Bowl. Diliberto, a Big Easy icon, died five years ago. Hebert has hosted Buddy D's radio show since his death.

Tomorrow, Hebert won't be alone on Bourbon Street. He will be joined by "thousands" of other men in drag as they sashay from the Superdome to the French Quarter.

"This parade has gotten totally out of control," Hebert said. "We had men calling the station and wanting to form a club to march in all these Mardi Gras parades. I said, 'Wait a minute, I just said I would do this one time.' I'm not going to go to monthly meetings. I'm sure you will see a few characters. Some of these guys probably dress like this every day. It's a way of life for them.

"My daughter who is in New York in the fashion industry, she made me a dress. It's black and gold sequins, all of that."

Actually, it's all of Dat.

"We've known I guess for three or so years now that if the Saints ever went to the Super Bowl, my dad would have to wear a dress," said Cammy Lynn. "He kind of inherited the challenge from Buddy D. That was one of the first things I thought about when the Saints won last week: 'Oh my gosh, my dad's going to be in drag walking around New Orleans, most likely in front of a large number of people and it will probably live on YouTube forever.'"

Cammy Lynn, 23, happened to be starting a line of mumus with her roommate, Cologne Schmidt, called "Show Me Your Mumu." The one she designed her for her dad is the "Mu Dat Nation Mumu."

"We usually only make dresses for girls so we had to go a few sizes up to make sure it would fit him," she said. "He's 6-4. I don't think we've ever had a customer taller than 5-11 maximum. We wanted to make it super fun, super Saints. It's a full-out sequined gold ensemble, so it will be very flashy, over the top."

The mumu is mini-length, to be worn with a slip underneath.

"We sent him two slip options so he could put his own little twist on his dress," Cammy Lynn said. "One is black fringe and the other is something with a lace trim. So he'll either go lingerie or flapper girl."

Asked what she saw her dad in, Cammy Lynn said, "Flapper girl because I also see him dancing down the street so I think the fringe will move a little bit better with his dance step."

Cammy Lynn, who loves Manhattan and wants "never to leave," will be here a year in April after graduating from Cal Berkeley. Her dad, she says, is ready for her to come back to the South. Still, she'll always remain a faithful Saints fan. No Jets or Giants for her. It's Super Bowl or bust.

"I have been waiting for this since before I was born," she said. "Every single year I can remember it's been like, 'It's going to happen this year, it's going to happen this year.' That's one thing about Saints fans. We're the most positive fans. Every year they didn't make it, just walking around New Orleans with my dad, they'd say, 'We'll get 'em next year.' Some cities seem to get mad at their teams when they don't win. New Orleans just gets sad with their teams. It's a family. I couldn't be more excited."

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She's also trying to get back to New Orleans for Super Sunday. If not, it's Brinkley's bar in SoHo.

"I like partying watching football but when it's the Saints I have to be sitting down concentrating," she said. "Brinkley's is a little place down in SoHo. They have amazing food and big booths, pretty mellow and I think I've now converted all the fans who hang around this restaurant into Saints fans. There are lots of Australians who now root for the Saints."

Cammy Lynn said her father tried the dress on Thursday night.

"My dad was like. 'Is this supposed to be this short?' I said, 'Yes, it's a dress.'"

And the hose?

"The last I heard, my stepmom was on the hunt for hose that fit him," she said. "She couldn't find any in his size but I imagine they have to have a drag queen store somewhere in New Orleans. I want him to wear fishnets. That would really complete the look. We were trying to get him into high heels but I believe the parade is 12 blocks. He's very tough but not tough enough to walk 12 blocks in high heels."